Oct. 17, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; October 17, 2007 - All-America linebacker Dan Connor (Wallingford) has been selected a semifinalist for the 38th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia. The award is presented to the nation's top lineman or linebacker.
The 2007 recipient will be announced December 5 at a dinner, which benefits the American Cancer Society, to be held at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston.
Connor gives "Linebacker U" a Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalist for the third consecutive year. All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny was a finalist for the honor in 2005 and 2006.
Selected a 2006 first team All-American by The Sporting News and a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, Connor is one of the nation's top defensive players.
A three-year starter, he made 12 tackles last week in Penn State's 38-7 win over No. 19 Wisconsin to move into second place on the school career tackles list with 344, passing Greg Buttle (343; 1973-75). Connor had 1.5 TFL, with a sack, vs. the Badgers. He has moved within 29 tackles of breaking Posluszny's school record of 372 hits.
Connor is fourth in the Big Ten with 70 tackles (38 solo) for a 10.0 per game average. He is second on the team and tied for fifth in the Big Ten with 10.0 TFL for minus-49 yards. The former Strath Haven High School standout is second on the team and tied for eighth in the Big Ten with 5.0 sacks (minus-43). Connor also has a fumble recovery and five pass break-ups.
A candidate for the Bednarik, Butkus, Rotary Lombardi and Lott awards, the "Linebacker U" standout has 16 career double-digit tackle games.
Connor recorded a game-high 12 tackles (8 solo) to lead the Nittany Lions to a 31-10 throttling of Notre Dame on Sept. 8 and was selected the Walter Camp Football Foundation's National Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Connor tallied 2.5 tackles for loss (minus-13), including a sack, and a pass break-up, as the Penn State defense held the Irish to no rushing yards, 144 total yards and nine first downs to the delight of the frenetic White House crowd of 110,078, second-largest in Beaver Stadium history.
The Big Ten honor was the third of Connor's career. He also was recognized after the Akron and Purdue games in 2006. In addition to the Walter Camp and conference honors, Connor was one of six players nationally who earned a "helmet sticker" from ESPN's college football studio team for his efforts during the college football weekend.
In addition to Connor, nine other players were selected semifinalists for the 2007 Rotary Lombardi Award: linebackers Xavier Adibi (Virginia Tech), James Laurinaitis (Ohio State) and J Leman (Illinois); offensive tackles Sam Baker (USC) and Jake Long (Michigan); defensive ends Calais Campbell (Miami) and Chris Long (Virginia); defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey (LSU) and center Alex Mack (California). Four finalists for the 38th Rotary Lombardi Award will be in announced in early November.
Founded in the weeks following the death of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi from cancer in 1970, the Rotary Lombardi Award presented by Wachovia Bank has annually delivered upon the mission set forth by Marie Lombardi when she first granted the use of her late husband's name. Her only stipulation was that all net proceeds from the event be donated to the American Cancer Society and over $3.1 million has been generated since that time.
No. 25 Penn State (5-2, 2-2) visits Indiana (5-2, 2-2) Saturday in a critical Big Ten contest. The game will kick at 12:00 p.m. ET and air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Nertwork and GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.